Wunderkind, formerly BounceX, the leading performance marketing channel that delivers one-to-one messages at scale is acquiring SmarterHQ, the leading advanced segmentation and orchestration engine for enterprise eCommerce.
Comments on the news
“We went on the offense after COVID hit and turned a trying time into a year of explosive growth, both for us and our clients,” says Ryan Urban, CEO of Wunderkind. “Ultimately we’re in the business of revenue. And this acquisition will allow us to drive a lot more revenue for enterprise retailers and will strengthen our partnerships with the major marketing clouds.”
“Every leading retailer wants to be more one-to-one. But they know they can’t make that vision a reality with various point solutions focused on single marketing channels,” says Neeraj Agrawal of Battery Ventures. “This acquisition will enable Wunderkind to ship more products across channels, faster. It aligns them with the major players in MarTech and should dramatically accelerate their trajectory.”
“Joining forces with Wunderkind will add fuel to everything SmarterHQ does,” says Michael Osborne CEO & President of SmarterHQ. “Combining the flexibility of SmarterHQ with the massive scale of Wunderkind’s identification technology will make everything we do more impactful, together. Ryan and I have always been laser-focused on how our products drive revenue for our clients, and I know that we’ll be even stronger, together.”
Supercharging growth for enterprise eCommerce retailers
With Wunderkind, retailers unlock a performance marketing channel by delivering one-to-one messages at unprecedented scale across email and SMS. Wunderkind combines next-gen identity resolution with world-class strategy to drive up to 25% of total digital revenue for top eCommerce retailers while scaling their marketable lists across channels.
With SmarterHQ, retailers are able to aggregate their in-store, online and in-app data and leverage it across channels. Marketers can instantly and confidently pull even the most detailed audiences to orchestrate tailored messages with unmatched customization.
Every retailer is focused on increasing their one-to-one experiences as part of growing their eCommerce businesses—data aggregation, customization and the ability to deliver experiences at scale are fundamental to that. This creates an incredible opportunity for Wunderkind and SmarterHQ, as analysts forecast that eCommerce in the U.S. alone will grow to $860B in 2022.*
This acquisition will speed Wunderkind’s ability to ship new, high-impact products for enterprise retailers. The initial integration will leverage SmarterHQ’s robust segmentation for Wunderkind’s SMS platform, giving top eCommerce brands the customization they need to deliver SMS at scale.
A shared commitment to delivering innovative products to marketers
Wunderkind and SmarterHQ share a vision of building products that provide extreme value to marketers. Both companies count some of the largest retailers in the US as their clients, like Sam’s Club, DSW, Bloomingdale’s, Uniqlo, SONOS and HelloFresh. Together they represent a collection of the most innovative leaders in retail who are transforming their businesses by providing one-to-one experiences at scale.
Earlier this year, Wunderkind announced that it reached a milestone of $100M in ARR and in October, Wunderkind was named one of Gartner’s “Cool Vendors in Personalization” in 2020. The company is tracking towards double-digit growth this year despite the negative economic impacts of COVID-19. Wunderkind has raised more than $44M to date and is backed by Battery Ventures, Primary Venture Partners, Cross Creek Advisors, and Contour Venture Partners. SmarterHQ had previously raised over $42M from investors including Battery Ventures and Simon Property Group. ComCap LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to SmarterHQ in connection with this transaction.
